A Municipal Director of the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, on Tuesday said the nation had achieved much in the use of adult education as a tool for national development.
He observed that adult education institutions could not afford to be complacent, if they were to remain relevant to national aspirations in the coming years.
Mr Bruce Amoako, Birim Central Municipal Director of NFED, who spoke in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Akim Oda in the Eastern Region, defined adult education as "learning, which can immediately render benefit to adults in every field of endeavour."
Mr Amoako made a strong case for continued access to education and training education through distance education.
He said distance based education reaches more people who eagerly wanted to learn than conventional approaches.
According to him, there was a need to focus on taking the necessary steps that would enable us to take advantage of what others have done in relation to distance education and build upon it.
He said Ghana needed to focus on the implementation of a broader offering of distance learning programme, to enable wider access to all Ghanaians who are capable of taking advantage of the opportunities offered.
Mr Amoako said the nation needed to focus on some key programme areas and activities to be able to achieve its own special market niche.
According to him, these included programmes to support adult literacy, poverty eradication, entrepreneurial skills, environmental education and civil awareness.
Others are programmes for artisans and the professions, as well as programmes aimed at formalising the informal sector to harness their immense potential for national development.
"All programmes will require that providers of adult education must themselves update their skills, so as to provide useful knowledge and skills for their clientele."
Mr Amoako urged practitioners of adult education to be proactive in identifying new and radical modes of funding their work, since they could no longer rely on traditional sources of funding.
He emphasized constant upgrading of skills through life-long learning approach to education and training.